The agreement will be presented next week in Miami and together with the University of Almería several companies from the auxiliary industry sector will attend, contemplating the academic, scientific and research project fields.
Almería, 04/22/22.- It will be on Tuesday the 26th when the official presentation will take place, at a major event in Miami, of an agreement already signed between the University of Almería and Florida International University (FIU). Both entities will collaborate in promoting agriculture and technology. This alliance has been promoted by the American agricultural company Intagros, based in the city of Miami itself, but with roots in Almeria, which is specialized in managing projects in this sector and disseminating the agricultural model of our land. That is why it has worked with the two universities in search of the best collaboration opportunities. Several Almerian companies from the auxiliary agriculture industry will attend the event.
This agreement has three main areas of work: academic, scientific and the development of research projects with the collaboration of the private sector. Not surprisingly, it has been coordinated by the UAL Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation, Diego Valera, together with professors Juan Reca and Carlos Herrero. As for the presentation as such, it will be carried out by the two universities, with a detailed explanation of the Almería technological agricultural model as a backdrop. In this sense, a dozen agricultural companies from Almería will show US investors, researchers and authorities all the benefits that the Almería Model can bring them. These are Novagric, Biorizon, Agrobío, Almafrut, High Tech Agrifood SL, Grupo Fico, Uvio R&D SL Vellsam, Hispatec, Proconsult, Viluber and Nutrisanum, plus Fundación Tecnova
The rector of the University of Almería, Carmelo Rodríguez, assures that “with this agreement between the University of Almería and the Florida International University we are opening new horizons, expanding our field of action in academic matters and scientific research. At the University of Almería we are convinced that this is the way for the University to be at the service of the needs of our environment, on the one hand, promoting the employment of our students through close contact with the business sector; and on the other hand, participating jointly in research projects that represent an important boost for society”.
It should be noted that in the State of Florida there is great interest in the Almería Model, the protagonist of the agreement signed and shortly already presented, and that in its academic aspect it focuses, in a first phase, on the exchange of postgraduate students and the development of a dual postgraduate program also between both institutions. In the medium term, it will be intended to extend this possibility of carrying out academic exchanges to undergraduate students. Finally, work will be done to define and design a dual doctorate program between UAL and FIU, thus giving greater promotion and dissemination to all the work carried out by both parties and enriching bilateral relations between them.
In the scientific field, both universities have worked to identify areas of common interest in order to jointly develop projects, maximizing the potential of the research teams by combining talent, experience and efforts. These projects will be led by UAL and FIU faculty and will give postgraduate students the opportunity to participate. In relation to this, and as the third pillar of the agreement, it takes a step forward in attracting the private sector from both North America and Almería, so that it can take advantage of the existing talent between both institutions and participate in research and development projects in multiple fields of action. in which these universities are leaders. The purpose is to carry out projects with a great technological, economic and social impact.
Prior to the presentation, on Monday the 25th, the FIU will open ‘The Wind Wall’ to demonstrate to companies in Almería one of the most advanced facilities in the world for simulating Force 5 hurricanes (252 kilometers per hour), as well as the rains and other weather conditions that accompany these atmospheric phenomena. Meetings and meetings will also be held between the UAL representatives who will attend the mission and professors/researchers from Florida International University. In addition to this, the Almería companies will hold meetings to study possible joint research projects and the potential development of patents, and the opportunity will be used to make a presentation of the technological model of greenhouses in Almería to FIU Agronomy and Technology students.
Through this agreement, Almería, and especially the students and companies in the sector, will be able to have access to a new source of knowledge and learning, in addition to strengthening cultural and business ties between both communities. It has as an added objective the other sense of the same direction, that is, to apply this knowledge and the latest technological advances produced in the United States in the agricultural sector of Almeria and Spain in general.